“The only way you’re keeping her is if I’m with her. Consider it a two-for-one deal. I won’t stop her from doing what she considers her job, but I will not see her die for it. None of those men are strong enough to back her up, but I am. You want her? Then you’ll get me also.”
This I hadn’t expected. Clearly neither had Don. He gaped.
“You can’t expect me to allow a vampire inside an operation designed to kill vampires! That’s not even lunacy—it’s suicide!”
Bones smiled a very patient smile and sat down, tapping his fingers on Don’s desk.
“Look, mate, I could give a rot about your operation, but do happen to care a great deal about her life, so I’m going to make you an offer, and you’re going to accept it.”
Don blinked at the baldness of the statement. I was curious myself to hear what this offer was, because it was news to me, too.
“Why does the success of your missions hinge on her?” Bones went on. “Because she’s your strongest fighter. Without her, you have a group of men who might do jolly well in a regular war, but against ghouls and vampires, they’re roadkill. You know it, too. That’s why you got your knickers in a twist when you discovered how lethal she was at twenty-two. And don’t think I’ve forgotten that it was your manipulating that kept me alone the past several years. Just for that, I’d fancy peeling your skin off like an orange while you were alive and screaming, but that’s off topic.”
“Quite,” I said edgily.
Bones continued as if I hadn’t spoken. “But since she insists on still working here, we have to come to an arrangement. As skilled as she is in battle, no one is infallible. If she went down in a fight right now, your operation would be finished, since you have no one strong enough to replace her. This is the first part of what I’m offering. You will never have to fret about her coming back from a job, because unless I’m shriveled on the ground, she will.”
“You want to work for me?” Don asked in astonishment.
Bones laughed. “Not for you, old chap. For her. She’s the only one I’d listen to, anyway.”
My expression must have been as astonished as Don’s, because Bones paused and took my hand.
“I’m not fretting over control with you. You can have all of the command you desire as long as we’re together. I’ll just save my demands for the bedroom.”
I flushed. Bones just chuckled and brought my hand to his lips.
Don also looked as though a change in subject were in order. “What’s the second part of your offer?”
Bones straightened but still grasped my hand. “Ah, the second part, and this is why you won’t refuse me. I can give you what you’ve been secretly itching for ever since you started your little science project here.”
“And what do you think that is?” Don asked, openly skeptical.
“Vampires,” Bones responded. “You want to make your own vampires.”
“No he doesn’t!” I immediately denied.
Except Don wasn’t jumping to his own defense. Instead he stared at Bones in a very odd way. Like he’d just found him interesting.
Bones settled back into his chair. “You want what every commander of troops wants—loyal soldiers who are stronger than your enemy. How many times have you wished more of your team had her powers? How often have you longed for soldiers blessed with the same advantages your enemies had? This is a onetime offer, mate. You choose your best, and I’ll make them better.”
Stunned, I watched Don consider the offer, then he set his hands on the desk.
“What if after they crossed over, they turned on us? That happens, as I know, and then I’d have unleashed mayhem on myself and my remaining team.”
“Simple. They threaten you, then they threaten her and I kill them. I wouldn’t hesitate for a moment to eliminate a danger to her, and you already have two bodies to prove that. However, a period of apprenticeship might rest your mind. Pick your potentials and give them raw blood. See how they handle the new power. If they can’t control a little, then they can’t control the rest of it. But if they can... ” Bones let the sentence dangle.
“Let me get this straight,” Don said briskly. “You’ll accompany Cat on missions in order to minimize her risk. You’d also agree to change selected soldiers into vampires. They would be under your supervision, terminated if necessary, and directed by me via her. Do I have this right?”
“Yes.” No hesitation in Bones’ reply. I was still dumbfounded over the entire negotiation.
“Anything else?”
“I have some conditions,” I interrupted, seizing the opportunity. “My schedule changes. Your operation just got seriously upgraded, Don, so I don’t want to hear any complaints. First, no more surveillance. I better not see or hear any of my team spying on me anymore, because after tonight, my location’s going to be secret. That way, no one can torture or green-eye the information out of them, or have them just give it up for money, like Brad Parker did. And everything else waits until my father is taken care of. Your brother takes priority, don’t you agree, Uncle?”
Don was silent for several moments. At last he gave a sardonic smile.